The invention relates to a method for operating a coin dispensing device and to a coin dispensing device that can carry out the method.
Coin dispensing devices are used in vending machines, gambling machines, money changers and other types of machines able to dispense coins according to a predetermined amount of money. In general, these types of coin dispensing devices comprise an inventory of coins of different nominal values provided in so-called coin tubes. Coins deposited in the machine which are not routed directly to a cash box (so-called cash box coins) are sorted into one of the coin tubes according to their nominal values. They are then available for disbursement. For dispensing single coins from a coin tube, there are provided coin dispensing modules, to each of which one or more coin tubes are assigned. In a frequently used construction, a coin dispensing module comprises a rotor disposed horizontally and having an electrical drive. The rotor has, on its upper side, a tappet forming a protrusion. Two coin tubes are assigned to such a coin dispensing module. The coin tubes are designed in a tube-like fashion and are disposed standing vertically above the rotor. Depending on the chosen rotary direction of the rotor, the tappet ejects the lowermost coin of one of the two coin tubes. For further details of these known coin dispensing devices, reference is made to U.S. Pat. No. 5,595,535, the entire contents of which is incorporated herein by reference.
The dispensing of a plurality of coins is usually performed one after the other, so that a plurality of consecutive dispensing cycles, in which one single coin each is dispensed, are required in order to be able to disburse an amount of money consisting of a plurality of coins. Usually, the dispensing of the coins is effected in the order of the nominal values of the coins to be dispensed, starting with the coin having the highest nominal value.
From the international patent application WO 95/14290, the entire contents of which is incorporated herein by reference, a method for operating a coin dispensing device has become known in which special attention is paid to the combination of single coins reflecting a predetermined disbursement amount. To this end, at first all possible combinations of coins are determined which resemble the predetermined disbursement amount. The predetermined disbursement amount usually relates to a given remaining credit, which is to be paid out in coins for example after having sold a certain article. After having determined the possible combinations of coins, an evaluation of each of the combinations is performed. The evaluation accounts for the number of coins of each nominal value currently available in the inventory. Thereby, a well-balanced supply inventory of coins of different nominal values is accomplished. The dispensing of the coins themselves is effected according to the combination with the highest evaluation in a manner which is known as such.
A coin dispensing device differing from the frequently used way of construction described in the beginning has become known from the German patent application DE 103 22 105 A1, the entire contents of which is incorporated herein by reference. In this known coin dispensing device, a plurality of coin tubes is disposed standing vertically on a base plate. To each coin tube, a horizontally movable slider is assigned, which can eject the lowermost coin of the coin tube assigned thereto. In order to drive the slider, a common drive plate is provided, which itself is slidable with respect to the sliders and with respect to the base plate. Further, each slider is equipped with a coupling mechanism which can establish an engagement between the slider and the drive plate. In this manner, by means of the motion of the drive plate, all sliders coupled to the drive plate can simultaneously dispense one coin each.